Margarita Redux

Adapted from Recipe for One True Margarita from the now unfortunately defunct Ceres & Bacchus Blog





I love the margarita recipe I have already published here. It's delicious; it's smooth; it goes down VERY easily. But I have found a recipe that equals (or maybe even rivals) mine, depending on what kind of drink you're in the mood for. And it's a whole lot easier to make on the spur of the moment.

The week this recipe was posted was very hot in NYC. I was working hard - really slogging along - and as a diversion I checked out the Ceres & Bacchus website. Instead of the office, I was working at Walter's in a room with no A/C, and it was after 5:00 p.m. I got up and made two of these puppies, and I had one, and W had the other. He yelled "Yum." when drinking his, so I'm sure you get the idea.

The original recipe calls for Cointreau, but I have to admit that I'm a triple sec fan. I realize that Cointreau actually IS a triple sec, but it is higher in alcohol content and more syrupy than the triple sec I usually use, which is Bols. I have used Hiram Walker, which is Amy's favorite, and Leroux and lived to tell the tale. Maybe I'm not really a top shelf girl (only kidding; Jimmy Buffet uses Bols triple sec; that's good enough for me). However, for the sake of authenticity I got a small bottle of Cointreau to try. And I'm sticking to my guns; I'm still a Bols Triple Sec fan. But you should try it both ways to see which you prefer.
If this drink isn't sweet enough for you, you can put in half a shot or so of Rose's Lime Juice or simple syrup to up the sweetness, but I prefer it without. And the Cook's Illustrated margarita, which a lot of people swear by, specifies tequila and triple sec in a ratio of 50/50. And that's what I use in my other recipe, so you could try that here if this drink isn't sweet enough for you. But once you start really messing around, it isn't the "true" margarita and not this recipe.

Do try this, and when you do, raise a glass to Ken, brother of Mary at Ceres & Bacchus, whose recipe this is. Thanks, Ken.



For One Drink

½ lime
kosher salt
2 shots tequila
1 shot triple sec
ice

Slice one wedge from the lime half and use it to rim your glass.





Place about ¼ cup of kosher salt in a plate.

Tilt the glass at an angle, and turn to coat the outer rim all around. Ken says that it's better this way, because if you just dip the whole top of the glass in, the salt gets in your drink.

Juice the lime half directly into a stainless steel drink shaker. I use this wooden hand reamer.

Add tequila and the orange liqueur of your choice to the shaker along with some ice cubes. Shake well until the shaker is frosted

then pour the contents into a glass. I use a large wine glass. Put a few ice cubes in your glass along with half of the lime rind you squeezed into the drink, and go to town. Repeat as desired.

When I'm making two drinks, I get everything ready for the second drink in a little carafe.

That way when I pour the first drink from the shaker, I can add the ingredients for the second drink to the shaker right away without the ice cubes in the shaker having time to melt and dilute the drink.

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Ed Giobbi's Chicken Cutlets

Adapted from Eat Right, Eat Well -- The Italian Way by Edward Giobbi

Serves 6

I think Italian food is healthy food, especially if eaten the way Italians in Italy eat - small portions of pasta, small portions of protein, lots of vegetables, and fruit for dessert.  In 1985 Edward Giobbi, an artist who happens to be be a great home cook and who is the person credited with creating the recipe for Pasta Primavera, wrote a cookbook in collaboration with Richard Wolff, M.D., featuring "heart-healthy" recipes. In the following recipe beaten egg whites are used instead of the whole egg to bind the breadcrumbs to the chicken, and the result is very light and delicious, so go ahead and do it. However, I assume the original reason egg yolks are not included in this recipe is to avoid egg yolks.

Eggs are a subject about which I am quite a fanatic. To me an egg is nature's perfect food. Eggs are delicious even when prepared with no added fat, such as poached or boiled. Eggs are really delicious lightly fried in olive oil and served on top of pasta oglio olio. Eggs are delicious scrambled. Oh, forget it, eggs are just plain yummy, and avoiding the yolk, which, granted, has all the fat in an egg, eliminates almost half the protein and all the choline, which is great for your brain and also helps with the proper distribution of the cholesterol. And without any fat in your diet, you cannot absorb vitamins A, D, E, or K. And for goodness sake, don't eat egg white omelets. 

To do without the yolk is not only a culinary loss but a nutritional one as well:  The yolk helps the body digest the white's proteins.  (And we now know that fears of the yolk's cholesterol are largely overblown.)  It's also a refusal to participate in the found poetry of the whole egg.  A yolk and a white are like yin and yang, peanut butter and jelly; two halves that only reach perfection in the pairing.

                                                                  Hugh Garvey, Bon Appetit


If you don't want to eat egg yolks, have a smoothie!

By the way, Ed Giobbi's books are really nice. He illustrates them beautifully, and since he's a home cook, his recipes are very user-friendly, although some of his ingredients (like chicken feet) might be considered fare for the adventurous eater.


Chicken Cutlets
Adapted from Eat Right, Eat Well -- The Italian Way by Edward Giobbi

3 whole chicken breasts, split, skinned, boned, and fat removed
Salt
2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
2 lemons, one for juice and one for garnish
2 egg whites, lightly whipped
Breadcrumbs*
Vegetable oil (I use grapeseed)

Using a meat pounder, flatten the chicken breasts between two sheets of waxed paper. Salt the breasts and lay them in a bowl. Add the sliced garlic and the juice of one of the lemons and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours, but no more as the lemon will start to "cook" the chicken.

Remove the breasts from the marinade, dip them first in the in egg whites and next in the breadcrumbs. You can refrigerate them for a little while at this point.

Heat about ¼-inch oil in a skillet until hot. Cook the cutlets in the oil until brown; turning them once is best, but the proper-cooking police won't come get you if you have to flip them again. Just don't overcook them.

When cooked, blot on paper towels, and serve with pepper and lemon wedges.

*I have never made this recipe with panko, but I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work well.

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